Z-Blogs

Today, I’m writing about the vitally important topic of whether Indian cinemas should have intermissions just for the sake of tradition. (Spoiler alert: I don’t think they should.) I watched my first movie, How to Train Your Dragon 2, in Bengaluru at Forum Mall about two months ago. As an American, everything has been new in India, but this cinematic experience felt familiar as I sat in a comfortable chair absorbed by the on-screen action. Then the lights turned on abruptly. The screen image flickered and froze before turning green. I thought the projector had broken. But it was only…

My friend Vandana Murthy writes: "My son has to go to school tomorrow 5th September, 2014)  from 12.30 noon to 6.30 pm. It is compulsory to attend...to hear the PM's speech!!! Even their test has been postponed. This is unprecedented political marrketing/brainwashing...Orwellian!"   How is it that schools are taking this kind of political mandate to the students? They have not given parents any time to protest, either. There should be a protest against such tactics by the schools, and the government that mandates it.

Some of the cards children have made for the carnival Sometime last year, five women were chatting over a cup of coffee. In the course of their conversation, the five (part of a moms' group because their children attend the same school), realised they shared similar beliefs--that they all believed passionately in making a difference to the lives of those less privileged. And that, to do this, they had to "become the change, they want to see". Now, this is a group of highly qualified and motivated professionals--there's a Chartered Accountant, an MBA, an interior designer, a corporate professional, and…

"My Economics teacher is just brilliant - he makes me think outside the box!" My daughter came home brimming with excitement after her day in college. Her enthusiasm made me recollect my own experience with all my teachers. With yet another Teacher's Day coming up, I thought of some songs that describes this unique relationship of a teacher-student beginning with classical music to other genres. In Carnatic music, Tyagaraja's composition "Gurulekha" in raga Gowrimanohari is a popular song heard on the stage. In the song, the composer explains how one can never learn anything without the grace of the teacher.…

I was at T John College on Saturday, speaking to students of media and journalism from different institutions, who were attending a seminar at the college. A lot of the young men and women in these colleges are quite hopeful of making an impact through their work, and helping to build a better society and country through their roles as watchdogs and reporters. But they are also running into a delusion. By their own admission, media is not a well-liked profession. The public has a dim view of what the media does, and thinks that a lot of it is…

I was on my way to a temple in Dodda Mavalli because it was Gowri Ganesh and I had been told it would be a day when devotees would come both to the Maramman temple and the Ashwath katte next to it. I was just curious to see what the rituals were like on this day. The autorickshaw driver abruptly stopped at the end of a narrow lane much before we had reached the temple. In front of us, there was an open space between small houses and there were tempos parked there. Small idols of Ganesha were being carried…

Since the beginning of May, my life has taken a turn. Late evenings which would have been typically spent as a sloth, are now reserved for exercising at Namma Crossfit. To call it addictive is an understatement. It also helps that I go with a bunch of my closest friends, each of us in varying degrees of fitness; it really is super-fun. The days that I don’t go, I feel miserable. There have been times where I have worked out at home and have had to mop the floor soon after, to ensure I don’t slip on my sweat. For…

Bellandur Buzz…Issue # 17August 28th 2014 Shared fortnightly by: bellandur-forum@googlegroups.com   Can we celebrate an eco-friendly Ganesha Festival? Photo Courtesy: Saahas. Every year, during Vinayaka Chaturthi, a huge number of Ganesha idols are immersed in Bangalore lakes. Most of these idols are made of Plaster of Paris, colored with toxic paints and adorned with thermocol and plastic, none of which are bio-degradable. These toxic chemicals leach into the lake eco-system polluting the waterbodies. Instead, one could use clay Ganesha idols and decorate them with homemade colours and flowers and leaves. Photo Courtesy: TMAD selling clay idols.   TMAD (To Make…

Missing: 95-year-old Shankar Prasad Mishra. My friend Preeti Mishra's 95-year-old grandfather,  whom she lovingly calls Nanu, is missing. He went missing from Babusapalya in Kalyanagar on August 25. Nanu or Shankar Prasad Mishra, is much more than a grandparent for Preeti. He is a fellow foodie, and her companion-in-fun. He is also her rock, her safe place. Preeti is an ardent Bangalorean, blogger and writer. I can only imagine what she and her family are going through right now. No, actually I can empathise, because it has happened to me too--when my father went missing three years ago. The worst…

The questions: ‘what is art for?’ Or, ‘why man creates?’ have been asked before and answered many times in many different ways. And yet, I want to ask again. It is like the question ‘what is the meaning of life?’ and the only answer to that question that makes sense to me is “forty-two” – the answer that the science fiction writer Douglas Adams brings to us in his book ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’. Perhaps, it means that there is no answer, or at least no meaningful answer. Here, I am sharing photographs of the two kinds of…